Metropolitan districts fund necessary or desired services for developing neighborhoods in Colorado. They are governed by Colorado’s Special District Act; Title 32, Article 1, Colorado Revised Statutes.According to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs website, metro districts are considered local governments, i.e., political subdivisions of the state, which make up a third level of government in the United States. (The federal and state governments are the other two levels.) Local governments include counties, municipalities (cities and towns), school districts and other types of government entities such as “authorities” and “special districts.”The website states that Colorado law limits the types of services county governments can provide to residents. Therefore, districts are created to fill the gaps that might exist within the services counties provide and the services residents might desire. Some of those services include, but are not limited to, traffic-related safety protection, roads, fire protection, parks and recreation and water and sanitation.In Colorado Springs, these districts provide financing for public improvement costs and/or are responsible for ongoing services or†maintenance of improvements that are†not provided by the city, Colorado Springs Utilities, or another entity such as a property owners association, according to the coloradosprings.gov website.Kristi Pollard, executive director of the Metro District Education Coalition, said there are 1,819 metro districts at present in Colorado. She said when a developer presents the initial service plan to the city or county planning department, the cities and counties have authority to place restrictions within that service plan and also cap the amount of debt. She said many cities across the state have a model service plan that sets forth the parameters to be utilized in a metro district, although each developer can ask for modifications depending on what the specific development might need.Pollard said it is important for cities and counties to be engaged in these developments at an early stage because the local elected representatives know what is best for their community. She said one of the challenges at the state capitol is a desire to create a one-size-fits-all mandate for metro districts. ìThe problem is what is good for Aurora, may not be good for Grand Junction,î Pollard said.Metro districts are governed by a board; the initial board is often comprised of developer representatives, she said. Senate Bill 262 ensures that every eligible resident who can serve on the board in their district will receive an email or letter informing them of election details, including how to nominate themselves to serve on the board, Pollard said. Board elections are governed by Title 32 and are usually composed of five to seven members.She said, ìMetro districts are a great tool for cities and counties because they just donít have the funds to pay for all the roads, water and sewer , etc., for each individual development.î Pollard said this also allows development to pay its own way.There are a couple of misconceptions people have about metro districts and the funding process, she said. One is that developers can spend the taxed monies on whatever they choose; however, they are restricted, Pollard said. ìBecause metro districts are using property taxes, those taxpayer dollars can only be used for public improvements,î she said.The other misunderstanding is that typically only about a third of the total development costs come from the metro district funding; the developer must finance the balance of that through a traditional type of business loan, Pollard said.ìWe believe metro districts are an important part of the total ecosystem that goes into the affordability of housing, and we want to make sure people know we must look at all of these things together as a unit because they impact each other,î she said.Amy Lathen, general manager of the Cherokee Metropolitan District, said they provide water, wastewater, street lighting, parks and a golf course. She said they serve about 25,000 people, Schriever Air Force Base, plus thousands more for wastewater services alone, and they are still growing.Lathen said they are constantly working to protect their water supply and quality. ìThese are our primary responsibilities, and with an ever-changing regulatory environment, this can be challenging,î she said. ìCherokee Metro is also working regionally on a major water project called The Loop, to use our existing infrastructure to connect thousands of customers to renewable, reusable water supplies and take pressure off of expensive and depleting Denver Basin sources.î (See NFH article, ìA water solution: The Loopî ó November 2021)Jim Nikkel, district manager of the Meridian Service Metro District, said, ìWe provide what the county does not provide, such as water and sewer, open space, recreational centers and neighborhood parks,î he said. ìWe provide all the services that make a community a community.îNikkel said they have a 24-hour answering service and encourage residents to contact them instead of using Facebook or Nextdoor to voice their complaints. He said, ìFor example, people see a sprinkler head that is spraying where it shouldnít be; and, instead of calling us, they go online and complain; which means we may not find out about it as quickly as we could to take care of the problem if they had just called us.îNikkel encourages homeowners to educate themselves, whether they are already living in a metro district or considering moving into such a community, as to who takes care of what services. The metro districts, county, city and HOAs all have their own specific issues to manage, he said.Roger Clark, appraisal quality control auditor, El Paso County Assessorís Office, said at present there are 223 metro districts in El Paso County; 93 of those districts are centered in the city of Colorado Springs. Of all the districts, 163 levy a property tax (73 of which are in the city of Colorado Springs). He said their office recommends anyone interested in purchasing a property should do their research on any and all taxing entities associated with the property they want to purchase.For further information about metro districts in Colorado, visit https://metrodistricteducation.com/Visit the following websites to learn more about individual metro districts: https://www.meridianranchmetro.org/faq.php and https://www.cherokeemetro.org
